4888 
is now in full bloom, but as an ornamental 
plant it isn’t worth growing. 
The Sycamore Maples have been in good 
bloom since a week or 10 days. Their long 
racemes of greenish flowers are not at all 
showy, but the blossoms are very fragrant 
and honey-scented. 
Horsechestnuts are fewer-flowered than 
usual. The common form is at its best, the 
red-flowered is opening, and the double- 
flowered not yet open. 
The European Linden makes a beautiful 
and shapely tree while young. Those grow¬ 
ing in good ground display healthful vigor; 
those in dry somewhat poor soil, appear to less 
advantage. 
In the case of the Flowering Ashes 
(Fraxinus ornus and F. floribunda) the game 
isn’t worth the candle, and do what I may I 
cannot save them from the borers. But while 
the trees live they blossom in great profusion, 
in June. 
Daphne cneorum in the open garden is 
past its best, and has begun to grow vigorous¬ 
ly; in a cool, moist, somewhat shady place it 
is only in full bloom. 
Exochorda (Spir.ea) grandiflora is at 
its best, one of the loveliest shrubs when in 
bloom we possess, but the flowers soon drop, 
and the shrub, if left to itself, assumes an un¬ 
gainly form. 
For Sea-side Planting what is better 
than the Beach Plum (Prunus maritima)? Just 
now the thickets of wild plants on the sandy 
banks of the sea, also groups of cultivated 
plants in'our garden are like banks of snow, 
they are so full of white flowers. Red Cedar 
and Wax Myrtle also are capital seaside plants. 
Stuartia Japonic a is going to bloom 
with us this year for the first time. It forms 
a beautiful, large-sized, bushy shrub with a 
luxuriance of flue glossy foliage that assumes 
a brilliant crimson and gold tint in fall. It 
is quite hardy here. 
Marie Legraye is a new white lilac and 
the finest that we have. It is a variety of the 
common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) and its blos¬ 
soms are unusually large and pure white, and 
the bunches quite ample. 
Staphylea Colchica has been in capital 
bloom since a week. The flowers are waxy 
white, fragrant and disposed in compound 
racemes that are terminal and opposite on the 
the last j ear’s wood. It is a beautiful object 
when in bloom, and has a rare and choice look 
about it, and it blooms quite freely. It isn’t 
very hardy. 
The American Red-Bud (Cercis Cana¬ 
densis) began to open its peach-red flowers 
May 16th, and is now and has been in full 
bloom since the 20th. It becomes a handsome 
small tree, and when in bloom is displayed to 
best advantage when grown in front of ever¬ 
greens or early leafing-trees. 
The Japanese Red-Bud (C. Japonica) 
does not grow nearly so large as the American 
one —it usually forms a branchy shrub four to 
seven feet high. It is very floriferous, more 
so than the American, and its blossoms are 
larger and much brighter in color. Both species 
blossom at the same time. The foliage of the 
Japanese plant is large, glossy and handsome, 
but the plant itself isn’t extra hardy. We 
have both kinds growing alongside of one an¬ 
other and in this way they look very pretty. 
In the open garden in a well sheltered part 
the branches live to their tips, but crowded 
with some other shrubs in a shrubbery-belt 
they get winter-killed a good deal. 
Caraganas are yellow blooming shrubs 
that in small gardens can be dispensed with, 
as they are not showy at any time. The 
flowers are pea-shaped and produced in more 
or less abundance. One of the best and com¬ 
monest is C. arborescens. The weeping vari¬ 
ety of it, worked on high standards, and al- 
owed to droop to the ground should find a place 
in large parks and gardens. 
Amelanchier Asiatica is a slender tree¬ 
like shrub that blooms a week or ten days later 
than our American Shad-bush. Its flowers are 
white, quite showy, because of their great pro¬ 
fusion, and in finest condition about the 20th 
to the 24th of May. Small plants bloom 
abundantly. 
Schizandra Chinensis is a fleshy, woody 
vine with primrose-scented whitish flowers that 
appear about the 18th or 20th of May and last 
till June. The individual blossoms are neither 
large nor showy, but as they are produced in 
considerable abundance (four to seven radiat¬ 
ing from the base of this year’s wood) and are 
fragrant they render the vine moderately de¬ 
sirable. Scarlet strawberry-like fruits are 
said to be borne by old plants, but our vines 
have never ripened any fruit. The plant 
seems to be hardy enough. 
The Snowdrop Tree (Halesia tetraptera) is 
now in its finest condition. It bears a great 
profusion of drooping white flowers on last 
year’s wood, and as the young leaves have not 
yet made much progress the blossoms are dis¬ 
played to great advantage. Although usually 
found wild in the viGinity of streams, it is easily 
cultivated in any common garden ground, 
and is quite hardy. A little pruning to keep 
the plants compact and somewhat thin helps 
their comely appearance. 
» MqwWR.Q TO OORREft PONT) HINTS 
[Every query must be accompanied by the name 
and address of the writer to insure attention. Before 
asking a question, please see if it is not answered in 
our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions at 
one time. Put questions on a separate piece of paper. 
VERTIGO OR MEGRIMS IN A HORSE. 
J. G. R., Sharon, Conn. —Until within a 
short time my 13-year-old horse has been al¬ 
ways gentle and reliable. Three times within 
as many months when being driven he has 
suddenly begun to shake his head violently 
and run. When stopped, he trembled and 
seemed very weak, sometimes frothing at 
the mouth. He soon recovered, however, and 
went along as usual. What is the trouble? 
ANSWERED BY DR. F. L. KILBORNE. 
The symptoms are indicative of vertigo or 
megrims, a disease of summer—rarely occur¬ 
ring in winter—in which there is more or less 
cerebral disturbance,resulting from congestion 
of or pressure upon the brain. The most com¬ 
mon causes are driving in a tight hame-collar, 
plethora—overfat—or disease of the heart. 
The horse should be considered unsafe for 
ladies or boys to drive as he is liable to become 
unmanageable during one of these attacks, 
which may recur without any warning, when¬ 
ever at work. At the outset of an attack re¬ 
move the horse to the shade, if in the sunshine, 
loosen or remove the collar and dash cold 
water over the head. By stopping at the first 
indications, the severity of the attack may be 
greatly lessened. A recovery from a mild at¬ 
tack may be expected in a few minutes after 
which the animal should be driven slowly. 
But the effect of a severe attack may be no¬ 
ticed for several days. After ascertaining 
the cause in a particular case the attacks may 
often be mostly prevented, or at least their 
intensity greatly modified, if the horse is prop¬ 
erly managed. Where the collar appears to 
be the cause by pressing upon the large veins 
of the neck, preventing the free return of the 
blood from the head, it should be enlarged so 
as to press well back on the shoulders, or be 
replaced by the breast or flat collar. An ani¬ 
mal that is over-fat or plethoric should receive 
five to eight drams of Barbadoes aloes, ac¬ 
cording to the size of the animal, the dose to 
be repeated in six days. The diet should be 
restricted and laxative to keep up a free ac¬ 
tion of the bowels. A run at pasture would 
be excellent, or otherwise he should be exer¬ 
cised daily where this is impossible. If there 
is disease of the heart very little can be done 
beyond working slowly and avoiding all ex¬ 
citement. During the summer a sponge sat¬ 
urated with water may, with advantage, be 
worn on the top of the head between the ears, 
when at work. The evaporation of the water 
keeps the head cool which tends to prevent or 
relieve the congestion of the brain, and thus 
prevent the frequent recurrence of the attacks. 
EXPERIMENTS WITH NEW SMALL FRUITS. 
F. R. W., Monroeville, N. J. —In the Rural 
of June 2 it was said that the Ohio Experi¬ 
ment Station was prepared to test new varie¬ 
ties of strawberries and other small fruits in 
such a way as to protect the interests of the 
originator, disseminator and the general pub¬ 
lic. I have a new strawberry which I would 
like to have tested in this way. Is there any 
place in New Jersey where such a test can be 
made? 
Ans. —There are only a few stations in the 
country (Ohio and Maine are the ones we now 
recall) that have proposed to carry out this 
commendable enterprise. The managers of 
the various experiment stations will to a great 
extent determine the special work to be car 
ried out. Some stations will make a special¬ 
ty of one line of work, and others will take up 
another line. The Rural is soon to publish a 
very interesting statement giving the lines in 
which most of the stations will work. Small- 
fruit growing is such a prominent industry in 
New Jersey that it would seem as though the 
New Jersey Station should devote some time 
to its advancement. Professor G. H. Cook, 
New Brunswick, N. J., is Director. He will 
doubtless give full information. Such tests 
have for years been made at the Rural’s Ex¬ 
periment Grounds. 
- *** - 
Miscellaneous. 
F. J. H., Wheeling , W. Va. —What is the 
value for manure of the sweepings of a black, 
smith’s shop, including horse droppings, hoof 
parings, iron scales, etc.? On what crops 
would they be most serviceable? How would 
the stuff do for a winter mulch for strawber¬ 
ries? 
Ans. —So far as the hoof parings are con¬ 
cerned, they are of very little value. Unless 
ground to powder it will take years to render 
them available as manure. The iron scales 
are of no value. As a mulch such sweepings 
might be of some service, though we should 
prefer manure. 
G. L. W ., Peconic, N. Y. —A 10-year-old 
cherry tree produces blossoms like those in¬ 
closed, but no fruit. What is the cause of its 
sterility? 
Ans. —This tree will never produce fruit, 
except accidentally by receiving pollen from 
other cherry trees. All the stamens have 
changed to petals, and the pistils are general¬ 
ly imperfect. It will be valuable only for or¬ 
nament. The flowers are very large and pret¬ 
ty. We should be glad to secure a cion or so 
next spring. 
F. E. B., Colorado Springs, Col. —What can 
I use against cut-worms in my pansy bed? 
Ans. —Placing blocks, green leaves or baits, 
as directed in recent Rurals, is the only 
thing to do. This is but a partial remedy. 
The worms collect under those and may be de¬ 
stroyed. 
-- 
DISCUSSION. 
THOUGHTS ON THE TARIFF. 
S. B. H., Crawfordsville, Ind.— The 
tariff has been referred to in several articles 
of the Rural lately. I was forcibly im¬ 
pressed with a remark of Bucephalus Brown 
on the antagonistic interests of classes and of 
the same individual in the tariff. 
The duty may hurt us and free trade may 
give us no relief. Pepper' is free and costs 
between 13 and 14 cents per pound. In this 
article free trade is of no advantage to the 
consumer, as pepper as sold costs, on the 
average, 40 cents a pound. The same is true 
of other spices. 
I think a close investigation of the free list 
will disclose the fact that consumers pay as 
high for the free imports as for those on 
which a duty is collected. [Certainly not as 
high in proportion to the original cost or in¬ 
trinsic value of the goods— Eds.] Protection¬ 
ists have insisted that although a tariff may 
for a time enhance the price of the protected 
article, its influence in the end will be to 
lower prices to less than they were before the 
tariff was imposed. They say that this re¬ 
sult would follow as the employees become 
more skillful, better machinery is invented, 
and more capital invested. [Protection, of 
course, encourages home production. This is 
the reason why domestic wool, under a 
strongly protective tariff, has sometimes 
brought lower prices than it has fetched 
under a lower tariff; protection increased 
domestic sheep raising to such au extent that 
the large production of domestic yeool lowered 
the price of the staple— Eds ] The protective 
policy of the last twenty-five years seems to 
have verified this claim, but now we see that 
protectionists seek to nullify the blessings they 
assured us would follow protection, by reason 
of greater skill and competition. Trusts and 
other combinations are resorted to to deprive 
the masses of the benefits they were prom¬ 
ised if they would adopt the protective 
policy. 
The Rural has often urged the farmer to 
use cotton-seed meal and linseed meal as feed; 
but to get it we must pay §40 to §50 a ton, 
yet there were about 80,000 tons of linseed 
meal exported during the last three months of 
1887, at less than $23 a ton. 
So it seems to me that it doesn’t make much 
difference whether we have protection or free 
trade, or whether our purchases are of home 
or foreign productions. The rule is charge 
all the traffic will bear. 
Our dealers sold us binder-twine here at 14 
cents a pound—a cent advance on the price 
during the year, while the Minnesota farmer 
got it at 11 cents. 
The cost of sisal grass is about eight cents a 
pound ; that of jute about one and a half 
cent a pound ; taking two pounds of jute and 
one of Sisal—which I suppose is about the pro¬ 
portion that is used to make binder-twine— 
the cost of the material is three cents a pound. 
Jute and Sisal are dutiable. 
[Yes, there is a duty of 20 per cent ad 
valorem on raw jute, and of 35 per cent on the 
manufactured article. On Sisal grass there is 
a duty of §15 per ton. Eds.] 
Looking at the question as I do, it seems to 
me that other considerations than that of 
prices should influence the farmer. If protec¬ 
tion gives steadiness and safety to the domes¬ 
tic trade of the country, it may be said to per¬ 
form the same office that a balance-wheel does 
to an engine in giving steadiness and safety to 
4 ts motion. To the downward tendency of 
prices, and other disturbing causes to unsettle 
the business of the country, it seems to me un¬ 
wise to add the disturbing influence of an un¬ 
due influx of foreign products While some may 
gain by such a course, it would be much like 
the gain of wreckage—it would be a cause of 
prosperity to a few, but of severe disaster to 
the great majority. 
A FARM THAT PAYS. 
A CONNECTICUT FARMER, FAIRFIELD CO. 
conn.—I know of one man whose farm pays, 
and would like the readers of the Rural to 
know about him also. I thank the Rural for 
the help it has given me in making my farm 
pay, for by its advice I have learned many 
things. 
The history of Dr. Hoskins’s friend is a sad 
one. I am sorry for him; how many anxious 
days and sleepless nights he must have passed! 
It would be discouraging to a young man 
starting in farm life if he did not know of 
some farmer who was more successful. Thirty 
years ago I was the owner of 1 horse, 1 colt, 4 
cows, a wagon worth §75, no farm machinery 
and I had §1,200 to pay on 70 acres of land 
which I bought for §3,000. By hard work I 
raised the debt, and as I had an opportunity, 
purchased more land, paying for each tract 
before buying another, until I had bought, first 
60 acres for §1,500; then, 24 acres for §2,000; 
12 acres for §1,000; 16 acres for §800; 14 acres 
for §2,260; and 14 acres for §600, which I 
have improved until there is not a more pro¬ 
ductive farm in the town. It is stocked with 
6 horses, 34 cows, 2 yoke of oxen, 1 bull and 3 
yearlings. I have a fine poultry yard and 
swine. As I could buy without going into 
debt, I have bought carriages, farm wagons, 
carts, a mower, rake and tedder, a horse power 
with thrasher and fodder-cutter; in fact, all 
a farmer needs and must have to work a farm 
and make it pay. I have enlarged my house, 
built a barn, carriage-house and other out¬ 
buildings, ditched and fenced the farm, and 
in so doing spent thousands of dollars earned 
by myself; not a cent have I that came by in¬ 
heritance. I have not spent all out-of-doors, 
for our home is well furnished and music, 
books, papers, both weekly and daily, help to 
pass the time pleasantly and profitably. To 
make the farm pay one needs to us© brains as 
well as muscles, but if one man fails, do not 
think that no man can “make the farm pay.” 
The Rural gives the best of advice when it 
says “avoid going into debt for what you do 
not absolutely need,” for as surely as a man 
does, so surely his farm will never pay, and 
people soon hear of another farm for sale. 
SALT IN AGRICULTURE. 
A. T. T., Franklin Park, N. J.— I noted 
with interest what was said in a late 
Rural about the beneficial effects of 
salt. In reading what others say I was re¬ 
minded of an experiment of my own in sow¬ 
ing salt in 1880. . A strip 20 rods long and one 
rod wide in a field of fodder corn received an 
application of salt at the rate of three bushels 
to the acre. It was harrowed in together 
with 10 loads of manure to the acre, and corn 
was broadcasted a day later. The corn was 
better on the salted strip, and the grass which 
followed for six seasons has plainly shown 
the salted limit—being of better quality and 
greater quantity. The land is a clay loam 
—not underdrained. I have never followed 
the trial with further experiments as I found 
difficulty in obtaining salt cheap enough to 
warrant continuing its use. I don’t remem¬ 
ber the exact price paid, but I recall the fact 
that I considered it too high for profitable use. 
I did not note that the soil was made more 
friable or porous as described by some of the 
Rural’s contributors—having noticed only the 
results. If salt can be bought at a reasonable fig¬ 
ure near New York I should like to try again. 
R. N.-Y. The salt used by our correspond¬ 
ents, noted on page 108, was known as Phos¬ 
phate Salt, a refuse from the salt works at 
Bay City, Michigan. 
J. J. M., Schenectady, N. Y.—In speaking 
of the first issue of the Rural on page 364 you 
say: “In 1850 James K. Polk was nearing the 
last few weeks of his Presidential term. Gen¬ 
eral Taylor had been elected and was about to 
be inaugurated.” This is a mistake of one year, 
as Polk went out of office March 4, 1849. 
~ Tame'G rasses 1 In" Kansas.— Prof.’E.'M. 
Shelton, in Bulletin'No. 2 of’thisfyear/talks 
about his experience with different grasses on 
the farm on the Kansas Agricultural College 
(Manhattan). The great obstacle to the intro¬ 
duction of the “ne ' things of agriculture” in 
Kansas he says, is the well-nigh un iversal 
disposition of Kansas [farmers’to stake'all|on 
some one crop. They are All ^more], or less 
